Throwing a rock in the house wins Gravenhurst mom $10,000

Inexperienced curler wins $10,000

INEXPERIENCED WIN

Photo by Jennifer Bowman

Trista Ellis celebrates her $10,000 curling win with her 6-year-old son, Bryson Labelle outside the Gravenhurst curling club. Ellis, who had never curled until four weeks before the tournament, won the money at the Brier Canadian men's curling championship.

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She’d curled for the first time only four weeks earlier when she won an online sweepstake. Now she was at the renowned Tim Hortons Brier Canadian men’s curling championship with a chance to win $1 million.

“There were like 10,000 people there and it was the scariest moment of my life,” she said.

Ellis entered the Capital One Million Dollar Button online sweepstake on a whim after she saw a friend enter on Facebook. It was out-of-character for the 29-year-old Gravenhurst wife and mother of two who had never curled before.

She won and the sweepstake paid for her trip to the Scotties Tournament of Hearts Canadian Women’s Curling Championship in Montreal to compete against four other people; only one of them would to go to the Brier for a chance to win $1 million.

Up against two other inexperienced curlers and a 40-year veteran who practises four times every week, Ellis thought her chances were over.

They weren’t. Her throw was closest to the button and swept her from Montreal to the cheering crowd at the Brier.

Assessing the ice at the Brier, she realized it was frosty so she would have to throw harder than she’d ever thrown. Amidst the loud cheers of the crowd she remembers onlookers commented it was too fast as it zipped down the ice, slowing as the frost caught it.

The money-making shot landed in the first ring of the house, sweeping $10,000.

“It is disappointing because I knew I was capable of so much more,” she said. “My practice shots … it landed right on the button.”

Though somewhat disappointing, the money will be put to good use paying off debt, most likely her student loan.

“It’ll be gone before I even get it I’m sure,” she said.

While she was at the Brier she was able to mingle with the top Canadian curlers including the Northern Ontario team Mike McCarville, Colin Koivula, Jeff Currie, and Jamie Childs. She was also on a major sports network, TSN.

“I was happy to at least play, because quite honestly I had four weeks’ experience,” she said. “It takes years to learn the weight and put it where you want to put it.”

Ellis was accompanied to the Brier by her father, her brother and her coach, Ogie Thompson, who befriended her when she won the sweepstake and came into the Gravenhurst Curling Club looking to learn how to curl.

“My coach was in his glory. Those are really special people (top curlers) for someone who watches it every day,” she said.

A few sponsors contacted Ellis before she left, offering her clothing for the occasion. Sporting a Muskoka sweater from a local store, she said she was surprised at how many people knew where Muskoka was.

When she came home, the sign in front of the Gravenhurst Opera House congratulated her.